Chapter 14 (Week 12) Flashcards
Forces for Change
- Nature of the workforce (cultural diversity; aging population; new entrants with inadequate skills)
- Technology (faster, cheaper, more mobile computers; online music sharing; deciphering of human genetic code)
- Economic Shocks (rise and fall of crypto stocks; record low interest rates; turbulent financial markets)
- Competition (global competitors; mergers and consolidations; growth of e-commerce)
- Social trends (online chat rooms; “great resignation”–an unusually high number of resignations during pandemic; rise of discount and “big box” retailers)
- World politics (global financial crises; opening of markets in China; government shakeups around the world; extreme weather)
Opportunities for / Types of Change
- Purpose (clarify or create mission and objectives)
- Technology (improve equipment, facilities & workflows)
- Structure (organizational design, coordination, and mechanisms)
- Tasks (update job designs for individuals and groups)
- People (update recruiting and selection practices; improve training and development)
- Culture (clarify or create core beliefs and values)
- Strategy (clarify or create strategic and operational plans)
- Objective (set or modify performance targets)
Lewin’s Three-Step Model for Managing Change
- Unfreezing - change efforts to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity
- Moving - efforts to get employees involved in change process
- Refreezing - stabilizing a change intervention by balancing driving and restraining forces
Driving / Restraining Forces
Driving forces direct behaviour away from status quo
Restraining forces hinder movement away from the status quo
Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change
- Establish sense of urgency by creating a compelling reason for why change is needed
- Form a coalition with enough power to lead the change
- Create a new vision to direct the change and strategies for achieving the vision
- Communicate the vision throughout the organization
- Empower others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risk-taking and creative problem-solving
- Plan for, create, and reward short-term “wins” that move the organization toward the new vision
- Consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments in the new programs
- Reinforce the changes by demonstrating the relationship between new behaviours and organizational success
Action Research
Change process based on the systematic collection of data and then selection of a change action based on what the analyzed data indicate
Appreciative Inquiry
An approach to change that seeks to identify the unique qualities and special strengths of an organization, which can then be built on to improve performance:
Discovery > Dreaming > Design > Destiny
Discovery = finding out the “best of what is”
Dreaming = visualizing “what might be”
Design = designing “what should be”
Destiny = implementing “what will be”
Sources of Individual Resistance to Change
- Self-interest (people worry that they will lose something of value if change happens so they look after their own self-interest rather than that of the organization)
- Misunderstanding and lack of trust (people resist change when they don’t understand the nature of the change and fear that the cost will outweigh potential benefits or gains for them; often occurs when they don’t trust those initiating the change)
- Different assessments (people resist change when they see it differently than their managers do and think costs outweigh benefits, even for the organization; managers often assume that employees have the same information they do but that is not always the case)
- Low tolerance for change (people resist change because they worry that they do not have the skills or behaviour required of the new situation; they may feel that they are being asked to do too much, too quickly)
Types of Resistance to Change
- Overt
- Implicit
- Immediate
- Deferred
*Overt and immediate resistance such as complaints, work slowdown, or strikes is easiest for management to deal with
*It is a challenge for managers to deal with resistance that is implicit or deferred such as loss of loyalty, loss of motivation, increased errors or absenteeism
Sources of Organizational Resistance to Change
- Structural inertia (build-in mechanisms to produce stability; when confronted with change, these act as a counterbalance)
- Limited focus of change (organizations are made up several interdependent subsystems; one can’t be changed without affected the others so limited changes in subsystems tend to be nullified by the larger system)
- Group inertia (even if individuals want to change their behaviour, group norms may act as a constraint)
- Threat to expertise (changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of specialized groups)
- Threat to established power relationships (any redistribution of decision-making authority can threaten long-established power relationships within the organization)
- Threat to established resource allocations (groups in the organization that control sizeable resources often see change as a threat; they tend to be content with the way things are)
Overcoming Resistance to Change
- Communication (decreases employee anxiety about change and increases their commitment to it)
- Participation (if participants have participated in a decision for change, their involvement can reduce resistance and obtain commitment but can also increase risk of poor solutions and increased consumption of time)
- Building support and commitment - employees are more accepting of changes when they’re committed to the organization; can also provide counselling therapy, new-skills training, or short paid leave of absence to mitigate emotional difficulties with change and facilitate adjustment to it)
- Positive relationships (more willing to accept change if they trust the managers implementing it)
- Implementing changes fairly (ensure perceived procedural fairness in implementation of change)
- Manipulation and Co-optation (manipulation refers to covert influence attempts whereas co-optation is a form of both manipulation and participation where you seek to buy off the leaders of a resistance group by giving them a key role, seeking their advice in order to get their endorsement) < these can backfire if discovered
- Selecting people who accept change
-Coercion (application of direct threats or force upon resisters; more effective when some force or pressure is actually enacted on at least some resisters < similar risks as manipulation and coercion = diminished trust
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Creating a Culture of Change
- managing paradox
- stimulating an innovative culture
- creating a learning organization
Managing paradox / paradox theory
the key paradox in management is that there is no final optimal status for an organization
- learning is a paradox because it requires building on the past while rejecting it at the same time
- organizing is a paradox because it calls for setting direction and leading while requiring empowerment and flexibility
- performing is a paradox between creating organization-wide goals to concentrate effort and recognizing diverse goals of stakeholders inside and outside the organization
- belonging is a paradox between establishing a sense of collective identity and acknowledging our desire to be recognized and accepted as unique individuals
Stimulating an Innovative Culture
Innovation = a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process or service
- organic structures positively influence innovation by facilitating flexibility, adaptation and cross-fertilization because they are lower in vertical differentiation, formalization and centralization
- long tenure in management is associated with innovation because it can provide legitimacy and knowledge of how to accomplish tasks and obtain desired outcomes through creative methods
- innovation is nurtured when there are slack resources because abundance allows organizations to afford to purchase or develop innovations, bear the cost of instituting innovations, and absorb failures
- interunit communication is high in innovative organizations (e.g. committees, task forces, cross-functional teams, and other mechanisms that facilitate interaction across departmental lines)
Creating a Learning Organization / Characteristics of a Learning Organization
Learning organization is one that has developed the continuous capacity to adapt and change
Components:
- continuous learning (opportunities for ongoing education and growth are provided; learning is designed into work so that people can learn on the job)
- inquiry and dialogue (culture supports questioning, feedback, and experimentation; people gain productive reasoning skills to express their views and the capacity to listen to and inquire into the views of others)
- team learning (work is designed to use teams to access different modes of thinking and collaboration is valued by the culture and rewarded; teams are expected to learn by working together)
- embedded system (systems to share learning are created, maintained, and integrated with work)
- empowerment (employees are involved in setting and implementing a shared vision; responsibility is distributed so that people are motivated to learn what they are held accountable to do)
- system connection (people understand the overall environment and use information to adjust work practices; they are helped to see the effect of their work on the whole organization)
- strategic leadership (leadership uses learning strategically for business results; leaders model, champion, and support learning)
